Carl von Clausewitz

Carl Philipp Gottfried Gottlieb von Clausewitz (1 June 1780-16 November 1831) was a general of Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars.

Biography
As a Prussian army officer, Karl von Clausewitz was present at many of the major battles of the Napoleonic Wars, including Jena and Waterloo. From 1818 he became superintendent of the Berlin War College, a position that enabled him to develop his historical and theoretical views on warfare. Published posthumously as On War, the crucial thrust of his writings was that war ideally constituted "the continuation of politics by other means" - a practical instrument for achieving political goals, which should be limited in its means and its ends. Yet, in his dense and subtle arguments, he also recognized the irrational violence of war and the large measure of chaos and chance involved in armed conflict.